The Way It's Supposed To Be
by awestruckk
Summary: This, right here, is the way it's supposed to be. Flare. One-shot.


"You're suffocating me, Eli!" I shouted at him. His head was buried between his hands and he was shaking his head. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I couldn't take it anymore. We had been fine for the last three weeks, everything was perfect…well, until Fitz came back. He was released from juvie and was now sentenced to some odd number of community service hours. As soon as Fitz came back, everything changed. Eli made sure he always walked with me to and from classes, he was around me 24/7, and every after school activity revolved around us and our homework. He was possessive and scary and it wasn't like him. He was like a plastic bag over my head, and I just needed to push him away and breath.

"Clare, please, I love you," Eli pleaded. I looked over at him. His eyes were puffy and red from crying, and he was looking at me like a sad puppy. I shook my head.

"You're just saying that to make me change my mind and it's not going to work," I walked farther away from Morty and Eli. "Eli, I know that Fitz being back at Degrassi is messing with you, but you need to let it go,".

"So your on his side all of the sudden?" Eli pushed himself off of Morty's hood and walked over to me. "Well?" He gripped my forearms and pulled me towards him, "He's a bad guy Clare, do you not see that?" He shook me and forced me to look at him. "I can't let you hang out with a guy like him,".

"Eli! You're hurting me!" I tried to pull my arms away from him but he only held tighter. "Eli, please!"

"You can't hang out with him, he will hurt you like he hurt me," Eli's eyes looked frantic. I sensed the panic in his voice.

"Eli, please calm down and let go," I felt his hands loosen around my wrists and I quickly moved away from him. I looked down at my wrists and gasped. There were red handprints surrounding them, proving how tight he was gripping me. Eli looked at my wrists and his eyes widened.

"Clare, I didn't mean, I never wanted to, I'm sorry!" I put up my hands and shook my head.

"But you did," I said quietly, "You know what," I tried to fight back the tears, "Just forget it, Eli," I took off running from our secret church hideaway. I heard Eli calling after me but I chose to ignore him. I ran into town and collapsed on the park bench in front of the drug store. I let my tears run down my cheeks and I hid my face in my hands. Where did this Eli come from? He has always had anxiety problems, but has never actually done anything even remotely close to what he had just done. I didn't even mean to hurt him, and I know deep down he probably never meant to hurt me. I just don't know how to feel now. Should I forgive Eli? I examined my wrists again and felt my heart break all over again. How could he do something like this, to me? I shook my head and wiped the last of my tears away. I tried to compose myself and I breathed deeply.

"Clare?" I chose to ignore the person calling my name. I did not want to deal with anyone right now. "Clare, hello?" I turned my head slightly to see Fitz saying my name. I shot him a look and then focused back down on my wrists.

"What do you want Fitz?" I asked angrily. He sat down next to me.

"I just wanted to talk and apologize but…"Fitz trailed off as he looked at my wrists. He scooted closer to me and shook his head. "Who did this to you?" He asked me. I ignored him. "Who did this," He asked again, more forcefully. I looked up at him and fought back tears once again.

"Eli," I said quietly, letting a couple tears roll down my cheeks. Fitz sighed and grabbed my wrists gently and examined them. He ran his fingers over the still red marks. I shivered and let out a shaky breath.

"Where is he?" Fitz asked me. I shrugged.

"Probably out looking for me," Fitz dropped my wrists and ran his fingers through his hair. "Why?" Fitz stood up and shook his head.

"No girl deserves to be treated like this, Clare. I need to go teach him a lesson," My eyes widened and I stood up next to him.

"Fitz, don't you dare hurt him," Fitz turned to look at me.

"He already hurt you! Why shouldn't he deserve to get something back?" Fitz shouted at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, because violence solves everything doesn't it?" I threw my arms up. "You know what, do whatever you want! I'm done with you, and Eli, all your stupid fighting. Goodbye, Fitz" I turned on my heel and walked the other direction.

**3 hours later**

"Yes Alli, I'll be fine. I'm just a little shaken up still," I talked into my phone as I sat on the living room couch staring out into the rainy streets.

"_Alright, so how is everyone? I miss Degrassi! My new school is so, blah,_" I laughed as Alli complained.

"Everyone is pretty much the same, well I mean, there are some minor changes. Jenna and KC are back together, Fiona and Adam are dating…Fitz is back," I trailed off.

"_WHAT?"_ I heard Alli screech, I pulled the phone away from my ear quickly, not wanting to risk any damage to my hearing, _"CLARE EDWARDS, HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME?"_. I laughed and switch my phone to the other ear.

"Sorry, didn't realize it was such a big deal. He's only been back for a little while, and it's not like we've had millions of phone calls," I told her. She let out a sigh.

"_Well then, how is Mr. Goldsworthy taking this reappearance?_" She asked.

"Not well, I mean, what happened today was a result of-" I was cut off when I heard the door bell ring. "Hold on Alli, someone's at the door," I stood up and walked into the foyer.

"_Hurry up! I need details!_" I laughed and opened the door and my smile quickly dropped.

"Fitz?" I starred at the rain soaked man standing in front of me. He had a cut on his left cheek and was breathing heavily.

"_Fitz is there? Clare? Hello?"_ I ignored Alli.

"I have to go," I hung up quickly and starred at Fitz.

"C-Can I come in?" Fitz asked, shivering from being drenched in the storm. I moved to the side and he walked inside. I closed the door and turned to look at him. The blood from the gash on his face had smeared down his cheek. I moved closer to him and cupped his cheek.

"What happened?" I asked softly. He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Here, I'll get you some warm clothes, and I clean your cut and then we'll talk?" I asked hesitantly. He nodded and smiled. "Okay, I'll be right back,". I walked up the staircase to my Dad's room and grabbed one of his undershirts and a pair of his sweatpants. He and Mom were at a divorce meeting or something and he wasn't going to be home until later. I walked into the bathroom and looked for the first aid kit we kept in there. I grabbed it and quickly headed back down the stairs. "Here, the bathroom is the first door on the left," I handed him the clothes and nodded.

"Thank you, Clare," He said quietly. I smiled softly and he walked down the hall. I headed into the kitchen and sat down at the table and waited to Fitz to come out. Soon he exited the bathroom and turned to see me in the next room. I motioned for him to come over. "Where should I put these?" He asked, meaning his clothes.

"I'll put them in the dryer," He handed them to me and I walked into the laundry room, tossed the clothes into the dryer and pressed a couple buttons. I headed back into the kitchen and smiled at him. He was sitting at the chair opposite of mine. I sat down and opened the first aid kit. I grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball.

"This will sting a little," I told him honestly. He nodded and I slowly moved the cotton ball over his wound. He winced, shut his eyes, and clenched his fists. "I'm sorry," He shook his head.

"You're fine," I nodded and continued to clean him up. I placed the bloody cotton ball on the table and grabbed a bandage and gently put it over the gash. He opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Do you want to tell me what happened now?" He sighed.

"I guess it's only fair," I smiled and laughed a little.

"Here, we can go into the living room if you want. It'll be more comfortable," Fitz shrugged and stood up. I stood up and led him into the room. We sat down on the couch and I turned to face him. "So," I started.

"After you left, I went to go find Eli. I just wanted to talk to him, okay? I know that sounds like a load of shit, but it's true, you've got to believe me," I nodded and he continued, "I found him outside The Dot talking to that one kid….Adam. I walked up to him and asked him why he did that to you," He looked down at my wrists. Parts of them were bruised, but nothing to severe, "He told me to fuck off, that it wasn't any of my business. I told him that you were really hurt and that he shouldn't treat you like that," I felt my heart warm at the thought of Fitz 'defending my honor' or whatever. It was…sweet. "He then preceded to tell me that he didn't do anything wrong, and then he punched me," I winced, "So naturally, I punched back, a few punches later we were in the ally next to The Dot. Pretty boy got off easy, he ran away after he kicked me in the side a couple times," Fitz finished and sat there looking at me.

"And your cut?"

"He pushed me into the cement, I guess there was a glass or something, I don't remember," He shrugged. I nodded and then looked at him.

"Can I um, see your side?" I asked quietly. He nodded and lifted up his shirt. His side was deep purple I gasped and reached out to touch it gently, he winced as soon as I made contact. I retracted my hand quickly.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I apologized. He shook his head and smiled.

"You're fine, you didn't cause any of the damage," I smiled and blushed. We sat in an awkward silence and I looked over at him again.

"Why did you come here?" He looked at me and shrugged.

"Because I like you, Clare," He told me honestly, "And it pisses me off that you're with that douche bag, okay? You deserve ten times better," I scoffed.

"Oh, and your so much better than him," I said sarcastically.

"I may not have the best record, and I may be an idiot sometimes but at least I know how to treat a girl! And at least I care! I don't see goth boy barging in here, apologizing for basically abusing you!" Fitz shouted back. He had me there. Since our fight this morning, Eli hadn't called or contacted me at all. I sighed and buried my face between my hands and breathed deeply. I felt the couch move next to me, and then an arm wrapped around my shoulder. I picked my head up out of my hands and looked at Fitz.

"You really care, don't you?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Always have, always will," He said. I blushed and looked into his eyes again. We starred at each other and then slowly leaned in. I felt my lips meet his and there was a spark. I pulled back and rested my forehead against his. "This," He said quietly.

"What?" I asked, smiling softly.

"This is the way it's supposed to be,".

**A/N: Alright, I don't even know. THAT PROMO GOT ME ALL WORKED UP. I HAD TO WRITE THIS. This is indeed a one-shot, and I hope you all enjoyed it. If you haven't make sure you read Mine, it's my other Flare story :] Constructive criticism? Thanks for reading.**


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